Sam
Vaden

I notice how things feel.

I help hospitality concepts see themselves through the guest’s eyes - looking at how design, service, food, wine, sound, language, culture and all the small details come together to create an experience.

Former chef. Sommelier. Poet. Still more questions than answers.

The longer story
A hand holding a glass of red wine in front of a fire

Soft heart. Sharp eye.

Empathy for the person inside the experience. Discernment about what belongs, what distracts, and what might be made better.

Hospitality

Beauty Has to Survive Contact With a Human Being

A note on why the most beautiful room in the world still has to work for the person standing inside it.

Keep following the thread →

Currently noticing

Reading
Poems beside Loren
Listening
Melancholy indie folk, then Tupac
Drinking
Black coffee. Obligatory. Hot.
Thinking about
What is enough?
Somewhere
Chattanooga, with elsewhere in mind
A half-empty glass at the end of dinner